AVON -- The long-awaited Nagel Road Interchange opened to traffic yesterday following more than 16 years of battles, according to Mayor Jim Smith.

"We're the first ones to build an interchange by ourselves, nobody helped us," Smith said. The estimated $27-28 million project was funded locally through a public-private partnership between the city and the Richard E. Jacobs Group, which owns roughly 300 acres in the area. The Jacobs Group will pay for a third of the project's cost.

"The result was well worth it," said James F. Eppele, executive vice president. "It is going to lead to a lot of great things for the region."

The greater accessibility is likely to draw businesses to the real estate.

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"The interchange opens up our land for high quality commercial development," Eppele said. The Cleveland Clinic's nearby Richard E. Jacobs Health Center was the first step in that development, he said.

The opening of the interchange also means more business for the surrounding communities, such as North Ridgeville and Avon Lake.

"It is going to make the east end of Avon Lake more accessible," said Mayor Greg Zilka. He said traffic patterns in city would change greatly as a number of residents would have quicker access to the interstate.

With the future opening of American Greetings headquarters in Westlake, Zilka said employees have already begun scouting homes in the Avon/Avon Lake area, and the interchange will make for an easier commute.

"The county is going to look very different as this is developed," Zilka said.

The idea for a Nagel Road interchange was first brought up 16 years ago, Smith said. There were numerous naysayers along the way. In those first years, the city council at the time saw no need for an interchange.

"They couldn't see the same picture," he said. Smith's administration also struggled to win approval for the project from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency. Smith said an interoffice memo from the group that was accidentally sent to his administration read, "I thought we agreed not to feed this animal." A weighted vote system -- since changed -- gave Cuyahoga County three times the votes of the other counties in the system and nearly killed the project, Smith said. Lorain County even threatened to pull out of NOACA if the system was not changed.

Smith admitted that the experience was trying. He thanked a number of people for keeping him sane, including his pet Shih Tzu dog, Pugsley.

"I'd be out here at 2 o'clock in the morning, looking at the Interchange and I'd be talking to a Shih Tzu," Smith said.

The interchange opened eight months ahead of schedule because of creative decisions made during the process, such as a temporary road, that allowed the job to be done more quickly.